Albion St Kitchen, Naked in the Sky, No 4

Photography: Pat Nourse

4:05PM, Jan 31, 2013

Our restaurant critics' picks of the latest and best eats around
the country including Albion St Kitchen, Naked in the Sky, and No
4.

SYDNEYAlbion St Kitchen
Thanks to January's bizarre weather, we've had some random
cheese-on-toast days already this year, which makes the star dish
on Albion St Kitchen's entrée section all the more inviting.
Actually, the combination of Pyengana cheddar, sour-sweet Pedro
Ximénez-soaked raisins, French black truffle and asparagus tips
(pictured) is a winner hail or shine. It's the same all over the
menu at this reimagining of what was once Assiette - Warren
Turnbull and the team continue to put some impressive technique on
display, whether it's flank steak with sesame, miso and eggplant or
the unlikely sounding harmony of honeycomb parfait with pine nut
praline and a fennel custard. What's more, it's all the more
intriguing for the price: main courses are $30. Albion St
Kitchen, 48 Albion St, Surry Hills, NSW, (02) 9212 7979 PAT
NOURSE

MELBOURNENaked in the Sky
There are some perfectly acceptable things to eat at Naked in the
Sky (jamón Ibérico, a salt-cod burger, crumbed ox tongue, a more
than decent crema Catalana) but there's no getting away from the
fact that this place - four storeys above Fitzroy with a large,
wrap-around, glassed in verandah - is all about the view. There's a
definite altitude-enhanced buzz to be had whether you're admiring
the cityscape, the local rooftops or the distant Dandenongs, helped
along by an excellent range of beer and cider, a workmanlike wine
list and an impressive global collection of vodka. Naked in the
Sky, Rooftop, 285 Brunswick St, Fitzroy, Vic, (03) 9416 2238
MICHAEL HARDEN

PERTHNo 4 While brunch choices like kedgeree and waffles with salted
caramel ice-cream speak to kitchen ambition, evenings are when Tom
Randolph and co really step things up. At first glance, the prices
might appear steep - dinner guests can opt for either a two- or
three-course prix fixe menu ($70 and $90 respectively) - but factor
in the complimentary amuse-bouche, Italian-inspired savoury course
and pre-dessert, and the value shapes up. Tightly composed dishes
like pillows of goat's cheese "gnocchi" in tomato water and glassy
Shark Bay scallops with a savoury bone marrow custard certainly go
a long way towards reassuring diners they're in good hands. So too
the spirited floor staff and dramatically lit room. Here's hoping
this new café marks the end of this site's revolving-door days.
4 Blake St, North Perth, WA, (08) 9444 6678 MAX
VEENHUYZEN

BRISBANE
"Hot" hasn't been the big conversation starter in Queensland this
week so much as "wet". Nerves were shredded, but Brisbane's
riverside restaurants are nearly all home and dry after Tuesday's
flood peak of the Brisbane River turned out to be far less damaging
than expected.

Most of those venues affected earlier in the week are waiting for
buildings to be declared safe, for electricity to be restored and
for coolrooms to be restocked before they reopen.

Peter Sullivan and Matt Moran's Riverbar
& Kitchen at Riparian Plaza went under, but only
experienced "minor water damage" in the end on Monday. The owners
of Alchemy, further up the river, say they avoided
inundation only to cop a drenching from rainwater runoff from their
building. Co-owner Angelica Jolly said it was likely to be
weeks rather than days before they could reopen. "The gyprock is
saturated, part of the ceiling has had to be pulled out and we're
waiting to see how the floor holds up."

Javier Codina's Moda on Edward Street in Brisbane's CBD also
copped a taste of ex-cyclone Oswald's wrath when a window was blown
out of its frame by powerful wind gusts. Jellyfish owner John Kilroy, meanwhile, said
he'd expected the worst for his boardwalk-level restaurant at the
Riverside Centre, written off in the 2011 floods, but it escaped
with no damage and hopes to open for lunch on Friday. "We'd cleared
the restaurant, taped the windows and sandbagged everything - maybe
we frightened the flood away," he joked.